The Research Process:
Finding, Annotating, and
Organizing the Literature
Created by Dr. Mary Clai Jones and Amy
Miller
November 2015
Where does the research process
begin?
• Begin by reviewing your assignment to determine what kind
of research is needed for the particular project at hand.
• Determine your topic and keywords through pre-writing, a
strategy used to begin brainstorming ideas before a project
begins.
• Determine the kinds of research needed for the assignment.
Will you need scholarly, peer-reviewed articles? Will you need
case studies? Interviews? News paper articles?
• Then search for outside sources by using library databases
and online catalogues to locate books.
Before Getting Started: Pre-writing
• First and foremost, read the assignment guidelines (check the
syllabus or Canvas) to understand what kind of writing and
what kind of research you need to do.
• After reading through your assignment carefully, begin
brainstorming what you want to write by jotting down your
main ideas. What topics and themes will your project engage?
What research questions will you ask?
Before Getting Started: Pre-writing
• Draft a thesis statement. A thesis statement, or purpose
statement, is the organizing claim your essay or project makes.
Every piece of writing you produce for your classes should
state a clear purpose or thesis.
• Although your thesis statement might evolve over the course
of the project, a preliminary thesis will keep you focused.
• Then review your notes. Look for recurring keywords in your
brainstorming and thesis statement. What are some synonyms
for those words?
Before Getting Started: Using
Boxes
Before Getting Started: Using
Boxes
• Think about how long your paper must be.
• If your paper is 8 pages, draw 8 boxes on a page and think
about how your main topics will spread across those 8
boxes/pages.
• If you have an intro and a conclusion, that leaves 6-7 pages. If
you want to cover a point thoroughly, you need 1-2 pages per
point. So, that means you need to brainstorm at least 3 points
to fill out an 8 page paper! Your rubric may also give you
more guidelines about points you must cover.
• Fill out your boxes (see prior illustration) and use this as you
begin conduction research.
A Step by Step Guide to
Conducting Your Search
The following slides will show
you how to:
• Step 1: Create search terms
and use keyword searches to
find sources
• Step 2: Suggest where to
look for sources
• Step 3: Evaluate sources
• Step 4: Keep track of your
findings
Step 1: Using a keyword search
Generating Keywords
When you begin searching for relevant sources for your
assignment, start with a list of keywords or search terms.
Consider the flow chart in the previous slide.
Note that research questions are converted into keywords.
Review your notes and try applying this method to extract
keywords for your own project.
Keywords are terms and words you choose that relate to your
project topic.
Make sure to include synonyms and Boolean phrases to
maximize your time searching. (Ask a librarian about Boolean
search tools).
Selecting the Best Keywords
For example, if you are writing a literature review that analyzes
research done on treatment for Post-traumatic stress disorder, you
will need to combine keywords to limit the search.
For instance, will your project address the history of PTSD
treatment? Recent developments? Will your review of research
include children? Adults? Effects and causes? Here are a few
examples of keyword combinations:
•Treatment and PTSD
• Cause and Effects and PTSD
•History and PTSD
Step 2: Where to Look for
Research
Step 2: Where to Look for
Research
Lincoln U
Library Databases
• The University subscribes to a wide variety of searchable
databases that collect scholarly, academic publications.
• Some of the staff from Academic Support Services are here to
demonstrate using LU’s electronic databases. If you have any
questions, you can always meet with a Learning Specialist or
Writing Tutor in the Lower Level of Page Library.
• What are some other sources you can find at the library?
Step 3:Evaluate Sources
• Once you find and decide on the sources to use for your
project, evaluate their purpose. What does your assignment say
about the use of outside research?
• How will research be used in your project?
• Record information for each source you choose in order to
keep track of your evidence and to avoid plagiarism. Email
sources to yourself and save them on a thumbdrive.
*Information on this slide is paraphrased from The St. Martin’s
Handbook pages 249-69 by Andrea Lunsford, sixth edition.
How to
Determine
Credibility
and
Relevance
Evaluate the usefulness
and credibility of
sources by looking at
the publication
information, reading
abstracts, and checking
references of books and
articles.
Annotating Sources
• To annotate means to mark up
a text, taking notes and
recording thoughts and
questions. Annotation is a skill
used in active reading and
critical thinking. It is also an
important step in the research
process.
• John J. Ruszkiewicz’s, How to
Write Anything: A Guide and
Reference for the University of
Kentucky, observes that
annotating sources helps
“identify the best ideas and
most convincing evidence for
your project” (487).
How to Annotate
• Take notes about each source you want to include in your
project. Pay special attention to the argument, evidence,
hypothesis and conclusion of each source.
• Then, “pay attention to the way these ideas recur within the
work” and decide if the author(s) makes a logical, cogent
argument (Ruszkiewicz 487).
• Record any questions or reactions you have to each. This will
help you evaluate and review sources in detail later in your
project (Ruszkiewicz 488).
Annotating Tip
• Color Coding is a great way to organize multiple
sources.
• If you know your paper needs to cover 3 main
points, assign a color to each point.
• When you are reading your research materials, you
will find good material that relates to your main
points.
• When you do, highlight the quote with the color
assigned, so you can easily locate supporting
material when you tackle that section of your
paper.
Color Coding Illustrated
•
Organize
• The final step in the research process is to organize your
findings.
• Before including your thoughts about each piece of
scholarship or research, figure out how, when, and where you
will include them in your writing project.
• The kind of writing you do next will determine how you
integrate your scholarly findings. Look at your assignment
again. What do the guidelines ask you to do with your
research?
Organize: Back to Boxes
• Remember your 8 boxes from before? Double check they still
match your main points.
• Now, think about what research resources support your main
topics. Use your boxes to record this information.
• It is a good idea to use a variety of research resources in a
research paper.
• Review your boxes: do you have a good variety of research?
Boxes to Paper!
• Now you are ready to begin writing a research paper.
• Keep your boxes at hand – don’t be daunted by the size of the
assignment! Just tackle one box at a time.
• You can work on the flow of your paper during the revision
process. Your boxes will guide you!
Works Cited
“Evaluating Information Summary Chart.” Tutorials. Oakland
University Library. n.d. Web. 15 June 2015.
Lunsford, Andrea A. The St. Martin’s Handbook. 3rd ed. Boston:
Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008. Print.
-- and John J. Ruszkiewicz. Everything’s and Argument. 6th ed.
Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. Print.